From The Point

Some notes and numbers of interest as we head into the league's stretch drive. Some of the things we've learned from the NHL in recent weeks include a leading sniper in the West; the league's most lethal team while shorthanded; the least-busiest goalie; and how many bottles of beer the Stanley Cup holds:
Buffalo: Chris Drury tied a career-high with his 30th goal of the season on Feb.

Patience, speed, goaltending, scoring, money, time machine - every team has plans for 2007. With a new year comes new hope and new promise. Yes, even in St. Louis and Philadelphia, where the once perennial playoff participants had stopped thinking about the post-season by mid-November.

As the old adage goes (and the Bruins proved last year), it's better to give than to receive. It's gift-giving time in the NHL, where they already got what they wanted in St. Louis after the Blues capped an 11-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over Pittsburgh.

Roy's legend will live forever, but his all-time wins record, once thought to be insurmountable, is in serious jeopardy. Congratulations to Patrick Roy on his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame Monday night. Roy, who'll forever be part of the Â‘greatest goalie of all-time' debate, was joined by 1960s star Dick Duff and builders Harley Hotchkiss and the late Herb Brooks.

Bob Clarke's legacy as a player will always be one of greatness. His legacy as a GM, however, is not nearly as rosy. Bob Clarke always gave as good as he got. And in the end, he got himself good.
The ultimate face of the Flyers since the start of his playing days in the early 1970s, Clarke resigned after 17-plus seasons in Philadelphia's GM chair (he also had brief stints as the GM of the Florida Panthers and Minnesota North Stars in the early 1990s).

The Hockey News.com looks at two compelling narratives from each of the 30 NHL teams heading into the 2006-07 campaign. ANAHEIM DUCKS
The BIG story: Chris Pronger joins Scott Niedermayer on the blueline, giving the Ducks one of the best 1-2 Â‘D' punches in NHL history.

We look at an interesting story - past or present - from each of the 15 Western Conference teams.
NHL training camps. The first tangible sign that hockey is right around the corner. With help from THN's 30 NHL team correspondents, here's an anecdote from a past training camp or a storyline heading into this year's camp, for each club.

We look at an interesting story - past or present - from each of the 15 Eastern Conference teams. NHL training camps. The first tangible sign that hockey is right around the corner. With help from THN's 30 NHL team correspondents, here's an anecdote from a past training camp or a storyline heading into this year's camp, for each club.

We look at the notable unrestricted free agents still available for hire after the initial flurry. With all due respect to Tie Domi and Todd Simpson, calling the remaining group of unrestricted free agents the Â“bestÂ” of anything is an overstatement, and then some.

If you claim you picked the Oilers to reach the final before the playoffs, you're a liar...or a soothsayer. Actions speak louder than words, they say, and if you don't believe it, take a midnight stroll along Edmonton's now notorious Whyte Ave. after any Oilers playoff game.

Everything's gone pretty much according to plans in this year's playoffs...Yeah, right. So far, no big surprises, right?
We all knew that, uh, perennial contenders Buffalo and Carolina would emerge from the East, right? And Anaheim, Edmonton and San Jose would be the last three teams standing in the West? Right?
That rookie backup goalie Cam Ward would win eight games in nine starts? That rookie backup goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, a household name if ever there was one, would shut out opponents for nearly 250 minutes, the second-longest streak in NHL playoff history? That rookie backup goalie Vesa Toskala would dislodge Evgeni Nabokov in San Jose's net? And that rookie goalie Ryan Miller and under-the-radar goalie Dwayne Roloson would be the other netminders still stopping pucks as the number of teams participating in the post-season was whittled down to five?
Of course we knew all that.

Sam McCaig takes a look at who stepped it up in the first round of the playoffs. It's a little early to hand out the Conn Smythe Trophy to the playoff MVP, but here's the next-best thing.
Team-by-team first round MVPs:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
No.